弘明集 5.54

5.54

敬尋問旨。蓋是聞其遠塗照所未盡。令精麁並順內外有歸。三復斯誨。所悟良多。常以為道訓之與名教。釋迦之與周孔。發致雖殊而潛相影響。出處誠異終期則同。但妙迹隱於常用。指歸昧而難尋遂令至言隔於世典。談士發殊塗之論。何以知其然。聖人因弋釣以去其甚。順四時以簡其煩。三驅之禮。失前禽而不吝。網罟之設。必待化而方用。上極行葦之仁。內延釋迦之慈。使天下齊己物我同觀。則是合抱之一毫。豈有間於優劣而非相與者哉。然自跡而尋。猶大同於兼愛。遠求其實則階差有分。分之所通未可勝言。故漸慈以進德。令事顯於君親。從此而觀。則內外之教可知。聖人之情可見。但歸塗未啟。故物莫之識。若許其如此。則袒服之義理不容疑。來告何謂宜更詳盡。故復究敘本懷。原夫形之化也。陰陽陶鑄。受左右之體。昏明代運。有死生之說。人情咸悅生而懼死。好進而惡退。是故先王即順民性撫其自然。令吉凶殊制左右異位。由是吉事尚左。進爵以厚其生。凶事尚右。哀容以毀其性。斯皆本其所受。因順以通教。感於事變懷其先德者也。世之所貴者不過生存。生存而屈申進退道盡於此。淺深之應於是乎在。沙門則不然。後身退己而不嫌卑。時來非我而不辭辱。卑以自牧謂之謙。居眾人之所惡謂之順。謙順不失其本。則日損之功易積。出要之路可遊。是故遁世遺榮反俗而動。動而反俗者。與夫方內之賢。雖貌同而實異。何以明之。凡在出家者。達患累緣於有身。不存身以息患。知生生由於稟化。不順化以求宗。推此而言。固知發軫歸塗者。不以生累其神。超落世務者。不以情累其生。不以情累其生則生可絕。不以生累其神則神可冥。然則向之所謂吉凶成禮奉親事君者。蓋是一域之言耳。未始出於有封。有封未出則是翫其文而未達其變。若然方將滯名教以殉生。乘萬化而背宗。自至順而觀。得不曰逆乎。漸世之與遺俗指。存於此。

I respectfully examine the intent of your inquiry. It is surely that you heard that its far-reaching way has not yet fully illuminated, so that fine and coarse might both accord, and internal and external have that to which they return. Reading these instructions thrice, I have realized a great deal. I have always considered that the teachings of the Dao and the doctrine of names, Śākyamuni and the Duke of Zhou and Confucius, though differing in their points of departure, covertly influence one another; though truly different in their emergence and retirement, their ultimate destinations are the same. Yet the marvelous traces are hidden within ordinary use, and their ultimate aims, being obscure, are difficult to seek out, thereby causing the supreme words to be separated from worldly scriptures, and debaters to utter theories of disparate paths. How is this known to be so? The sages eliminated excesses in line with shooting and angling; they simplified complexities in accordance with the four seasons. In the ritual of the threefold chase, they did not begrudge losing the game that ran ahead; in setting up hunting nets, they had to wait until transformation had occurred before applying them. Above, they reached the utmost benevolence of the 'Treading on Reeds'; within, they extended the compassion of Śākyamuni, causing the world to equalize self and others and to view matter and self as identical. This is indeed the single hair within an embrace of many fathoms—how could there be any distinction of superior and inferior, or failure to correspond? Yet if one seeks it from the traces, it is still largely identical with universal love; if one pursues its reality from afar, there are gradations and divisions. What these divisions encompass cannot be fully recounted. Therefore, one gradually advances virtue through compassion, making affairs manifest toward ruler and parents. Viewed from this, the internal and external teachings can be known, and the sages' sentiments can be seen. But because the path of return has not yet been opened, beings do not recognize it. If one concedes that it is thus, then the meaning of baring the shoulder and changing robes admits of no doubt. Why does your letter say that it should be expounded even more exhaustively? Therefore, I again set forth my original sentiments in full. Tracing the transformation of corporeal form: it is molded and cast by yin and yang, receiving the physical structures of left and right; darkness and light alternate in operation, giving rise to accounts of death and life. Human feelings all delight in life and fear death, liking advance and hating retreat. For this reason, the ancient kings conformed to the nature of the people and comforted what was natural to them, establishing different regulations for auspicious and inauspicious matters and distinct positions for left and right. Hence, auspicious affairs esteem the left, advancing rank to enrich their life; inauspicious affairs esteem the right, adopting a sorrowful appearance to injure their nature. These are all based on what they received, communicating the teachings by complying with nature, being moved by changes in affairs and cherishing the virtues of their ancestors. What the world values does not exceed living and surviving; in living and surviving, the Dao of bending and extending, advancing and retreating, is completely exhausted herein. The response to shallow and deep lies right here. The śramaṇa, however, is not so: putting the body behind and stepping back oneself, he does not dislike lowness; when the time comes and circumstances are adverse, he does not decline disgrace. Lowering oneself to tend to oneself is called humility; abiding in what the multitudes hate is called compliance. If humility and compliance do not lose their root, then the merit of 'daily decrease' is easily accumulated, and the path to escape the essential may be traversed. For this reason, he escapes the world, abandons glory, and acts contrary to vulgarity. One who acts contrary to vulgarity, though of the same outward appearance as the worthy within the realm, is genuinely different in reality. How can this be made clear? All who have left household life realize that tribulations and encumbrances stem from having a body; they do not preserve the body in order to bring an end to tribulation. They know that birth upon birth stems from endowed transformation; they do not comply with transformation in order to seek the principle. Inferring from this, one surely knows that those who embark on the journey of the path of return do not encumber their spirit with life; those who transcend worldly affairs do not encumber their life with emotional attachments. If one does not encumber one's life with emotional attachments, then life can be severed; if one does not encumber one's spirit with life, then the spirit can merge with the dark. Thus, what was previously called auspicious and inauspicious fulfilling ritual, and serving parents and rulers, is merely the speech of a single realm; it has never gone beyond having boundaries. Not having gone beyond having boundaries, one merely dotes on the letter and does not understand the changes. If so, one will become stagnant in the doctrine of names to sacrifice life, and ride the ten thousand transformations to turn one's back on the principle. Viewed from the utmost compliance, how could one not call this contrary? The meaning of gradual worldliness and casting off vulgarity resides right here.